Modern bahay kubo: design ideas and how they work

A modern bahay kubo keeps what the old house did for the climate and drops what does not suit a permanent home. The floor is still lifted on posts, the roof is still steep with deep eaves and open underneath, and the walls still let air through. The posts are concrete, the roof is insulated metal or tile, and the walls are timber, woven panels and glass. Every image on this page is a design concept, generated to show an idea. None is a built house or the practice’s work.

The five moves that make it a bahay kubo

A raised floor. The living floor sits above the flood level of the site, and the shaded space underneath, the silong, becomes a carport, a laundry or an outdoor room.
A steep roof, open underneath. No flat ceiling, or a high one. The heat collects in the tall space under the roof and leaves through a vent at the ridge.
Deep eaves. The roof reaches well past the walls, keeping sun and rain off them and shading the windows.
Walls that let air through. Louvres, awning windows, screens of timber slats or woven panels, and openings on opposite walls so the breeze crosses the room.
One shared room, with the wet rooms to one side. The old one-room bulwagan becomes an open living and dining room. The batalan, where the washing was done, becomes a block for the kitchen and toilet.

The bahay kubo guide explains where each move comes from.

What changes in the materials

DrawingThe same moves in current materials: posts and a raised floor in concrete, the thatch replaced by an insulated metal roof that is still steep and still open to the room, and a vent at the ridge doing what the gaps in the thatch once did. A design idea, not to scale and not a design for any lot.

In the bahay kubo	In a modern version	Why the change
Bamboo or log posts on a stone	Concrete or steel posts on footings	Posts carry a heavier house for decades, and the structural engineer can size them for wind and earthquake
Nipa or cogon thatch	Insulated metal sheet, or clay or concrete tile	Thatch burns and needs re-thatching. Metal needs insulation under it, or the room heats up and rain is loud
No ceiling, gaps in the thatch	Exposed roof frame, or a high sloping ceiling, with a ridge vent	Keeps the tall space for heat to rise into, and gives it a way out
Sawali or amakan walls	Timber slats, woven panels over screens, louvres, glass sliding doors	Air still moves, but the walls lock, keep insects out and hold up to rain
Bamboo slat floor	Timber boards on joists, or a concrete slab	Easier to live on. A slab loses the air from below, so the windows have to do more
Awning windows on a rod	Awning, jalousie or louvre windows with screens	Still open in light rain, and the louvres can be shut in a storm

On concrete posts

The simplest version: one storey on short concrete posts, a steep hip roof with deep eaves, and walls of timber slats and woven panels between glass. Lifted only a few steps, it keeps the floor dry in a flood and the air moving underneath.

Design concept: a small single-storey house raised on square concrete posts in a rice field, with a steep dark grey metal pyramid roof, walls of woven bamboo panels and vertical timber boards, glass sliding doors onto a timber deck, and timber steps down to the grass, with coconut palms and banana plants in late afternoon light — Design conceptA modern bahay kubo at its simplest: concrete posts, a steep insulated roof with deep eaves, and walls that open. Generated image: it is not a photograph, a built house, or the practice's work.

Two storeys, with the silong as the family room

On a lot where the floor has to go well above the flood, the silong becomes a full room. With a concrete floor and the house above for a roof, it is the shadiest place on the lot, used for the long table, the laundry and the car. The bedrooms go upstairs in a lighter timber box.

Design concept: five Filipino adults, one a grandmother, eating at a long timber table in the open, shaded ground floor of a two-storey house on concrete columns; the upper floor is clad in woven bamboo panels and vertical timber louvres with awning windows, under a dark metal hip roof — Design conceptTwo storeys on bahay kubo lines: the silong becomes the family room, the bedrooms go upstairs. Generated image: it is not a photograph, a built house, or the practice's work.

On a subdivision lot

The form fits a standard lot. The raised floor lets a car park underneath, so the house takes less of the lot for a carport. The steep roof and deep eaves still have to respect the setbacks and the lot coverage the subdivision and the building code allow. The lot coverage calculator shows how much of a lot a house may cover.

Inside: one room under a high roof

Design concept: a living room under a high timber roof, with woven bamboo wall panels, rattan furniture and wide doors open to a garden on two sides — Design conceptInside the same idea: a high roof to hold the hot air up, and openings on opposite walls so the breeze crosses the room. Generated image: it is not a photograph, a built house, or the practice's work.

The living, dining and kitchen share one room under the roof frame, open to it. Doors and windows on opposite walls let air through. With no flat ceiling, the room feels larger than its floor area, and the heat rises out of reach.

Design concept: a kitchen and dining room under a high roof lined with woven bamboo between dark timber rafters, with an L-shaped concrete counter over open timber shelves of bowls and baskets, three woven rattan pendant lights above a timber table and chairs, and awning windows propped open on opposite walls to banana plants — Design conceptThe kitchen under the open roof, with windows on opposite walls so the cooking heat leaves. Generated image: it is not a photograph, a built house, or the practice's work.

Design concept: a bedroom with a timber plank floor, woven bamboo wall panels in timber frames, a high hip ceiling with exposed rafters and a dark ceiling fan, a low timber bed with white linen, and sliding panels of small translucent squares open to a garden — Design conceptA bedroom under the high roof, with sliding capiz panels in place of a solid wall. Generated image: it is not a photograph, a built house, or the practice's work.

Woven screens over glass

Sliding screens of woven bamboo or timber slats outside the glass shade it by day and let the breeze in when the glass is open. At night, with the lights on inside, the weave shows from the garden.

Design concept: a raised pavilion house at dusk on timber posts beside a pond, with warm light glowing through woven bamboo screens over glass, a steep dark roof with exposed rafters under the gable, and coconut palms against a purple sky, all reflected in the water — Design conceptWoven screens over the glass: shade by day, and the weave lit from inside at night. Generated image: it is not a photograph, a built house, or the practice's work.

A plan for one

DrawingThe bulwagan becomes one open living and dining room, the batalan becomes a kitchen and toilet block on one side, and the porch becomes a lanai under the eaves. Openings on opposite walls let the breeze cross. A design idea, not to scale and not a design for any lot.

One way to arrange it: the open living and dining room in the middle, a bedroom at each end, and the kitchen and toilet together in one block, where the batalan used to be. A lanai under the eaves runs along the front. Openings on the back and front walls line up so the breeze crosses the main room. Every lot changes this, because the plan has to turn to face the breeze and keep its long walls out of the afternoon sun.

Design concept: Filipino grandparents talking on rattan chairs and two Filipino boys sitting on a bamboo bench in the open, shaded space under a raised house, with square concrete posts, the timber beams and joists of the floor overhead, an empty hammock and a second bamboo bench, and a garden beyond — Design conceptThe silong as an outdoor room: the coolest place on the lot in the afternoon. Generated image: it is not a photograph, a built house, or the practice's work.

What to check before you build one

The flood level of the site, which sets how high the floor goes. The elevated house guide covers it.
Which way the house faces. Long walls facing east and west take the low sun, which eaves cannot block. The climate guide explains orientation.
The roof. Steep enough to shed rain fast, insulated if it is metal, with deep eaves and a vent at the ridge. The roof design guide compares the options.
Bamboo and timber. Both need treatment against insects and rot, and need to stay out of standing water. Keep them as screens and finishes and let the structure be concrete or steel. The bamboo bahay kubo guide covers what each natural material needs.
The permit. A modern bahay kubo is a building like any other. It needs a building permit and plans signed by the licensed professionals for each sheet. The building permit requirements guide lists them.

For drawings of the traditional house, read the bahay kubo drawing guide. For layouts and roofs, read the bahay kubo design guide. The same ideas in stone and timber are in the bahay na bato guide. For a small kubo in the yard, read the small bahay kubo guide. Our custom house design service designs modern bahay kubo houses for a particular lot, from the first sketch to the permit set.

Modern bahay kubo: design ideas in concrete, steel, timber and bamboo